Hi all,

boat is a 1988 Formula sr1 w twin 330hp 454s and bravo drives.

The problem: at around 3k rpms on both motors the rpms shoot up and the boat stops accelerating. It feels like a spun hub on the props but I swapped out props to solid steel props with no hubs and the issue persists.

It buries the ass of the boat like it wants to get on plane but can’t manage and as you apply power when it hits 3k both sides lose their bite, and the engines rev up to over 4k.

Next guess would be engine coupling to the bravo drive?
Is it likely that both would react exactly the same at the same rpm on both motors?

A month or so ago I did manage to get it on plane and run WOT to 4.4krpms without but was only able to get to 28mph when this boat should be around 60mph at WOT 4.4k.

I have the bottom scrubbed every month by a diver so it shouldn’t be a barnacle issue from what I can tell.

Any help here is appreciated.

sounds like you have a couple hundred gallons of water in the boat...............so the boat have never ran correct ? 4400 revs @ 28 mph something is all wrong, what are the props

lol that’s about exactly what it feels like.

When I bought it the guys said it ran fine but had been sitting for a few years. It had a hole in the port side ex manifold.
I ran it home on the intercostal on one engine and was having the same issue (blowing the prop out over 3k) at that time with the one running engine but did manage to get on plane with one motor but never went above 3500 and it was a short run.

Since then it’s been on the water behind my house. Scrubbed monthly for barnacles. Put a new ex manifold on it and had to swap the port side raw water pump.

Since then I’ve only been able to use it a couple hours at a time cruising the canals around Fort Lauderdale at minimum wake.

Original props are 3 blade 14-5/8 23p. These have the rubber hub.

In an attempt to check if it was prop hubs, I bought a pair of 23p cleavers that are solid steel with no rubber hub.
Having the exact same issue with these which leads me to believe the issue is not the props.

coupler is slipping by the sounds of it or the cone clutch in the drives.ever smell any rubber burning?

I haven’t smelled any rubber that I’ve noticed. Any tips on diagnosing this or determining if it’s the drives vs the coupler?


And another request, does anyone know of a good shop around Fort Lauderdale that will work on I/O boats? Everywhere seems to be outboards only now days.

outboard only like in
you simply see them everywhere
or more like
They refuse to work on an inboard boat?

refuse to work on inboards. I’ve had the same trouble with my inboard Bertram 28.

But back to the main topic, any tips on diagnosing engine coupler vs drive clutches?
Id like to know the problem before bringing it in anywhere to avoid any confusion or issues.


This thread seems to indicate that if the engine coupler goes, it goes completely. Unlike my situation where I can still drive around.


any thoughts?
cone clutch

I find it hard to believe that both engines and drives are having the same problem at the same time.

Silly question, are the drives going all the way down? Could something be stuck or jammed not allowing them to go all the way down? Some boats will fight getting on plane with the drives trimmed up a tiny bit.

Agreed! I’m not sure what to think.

This is also something I’ve come across in my research. The drive indicators on the dash show that they are all the way down but I don’t have a good way to verify. The water behind my house is sketchy at best so I try to stay out of it.

I wonder if they could be going all the way down at idle speeds but lifting under power.

Anyone have any recommendations on diagnosing this, specifically.